Reallocation of wellbeing across the life course in the OECD between 2008 and 2024

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests a substantial temporal change in the traditional U-shaped age-wellbeing relationship in many countries. From a sustainable wellbeing perspective that emphasises intergenerational equity, we examine how wellbeing was reallocated across age groups in 28 OECD countries between 2008 and 2024. Method: We analyse life evaluation (0–10 scale) data from the Gallup World Poll at four anchor years (2008, 2011, 2019, 2024), using country-specific models and two classification approaches (quadratic and confidence-interval-based). We assess cross-national heterogeneity, methodological sensitivity, and sustainable wellbeing implications through age-group reallocation patterns.Results: Age-wellbeing profiles varied greatly across countries, with classifications sensitive to functional form, age boundaries, and temporal pooling. We identified five patterns: (1) sustainable (8 countries including Eastern Europe, East Asia, Chile: broad-based gains across all age groups), (2) unsustainable (14 countries across North, Western and Southern Europe, North America, and New Zealand, characterised by early-adulthood decline alongside substantially better outcomes in late adulthood; Spain exemplified the starkest contrast (-1.34 point-change for ages 18-29, and +0.83 for ages 70-79)), (3) no significant age-based reallocation (Turkey, Israel), (4) reverse patterns (United Kingdom, Ireland: late adulthood fared worse than early adulthood), (5) mixed/unique patterns (Australia, Denmark).Conclusion: Age-wellbeing profile classifications are sensitive to methodological choices, though reallocation patterns provide robust evidence about distributional dynamics. Half the sample showed unsustainable trajectories, raising profound intergenerational equity concerns. Eight countries achieved sustainable, broad-based gains, all starting from low baselines, which suggests that equitable trajectories may be more easily achievable when aggregate wellbeing is improving rather than declining. Addressing unsustainable patterns requires comprehensive policy attention and routine age-disaggregated monitoring.